Taylor Swift fans from 13 states across the US are suing Ticketmaster following the ‘Eras Tour’ ticketing debacle, according to reports.
Ticketmaster witnessed extraordinary demand for pre-sale tickets for the singer’s tour, with millions of fans attempting to purchase tickets. The ticketing platform suffered several issues with the general onsale subsequently cancelled. Many fans were left without tickets while prices on secondary resale sites rocketed, leading to the lawsuits.
The fall-out has seen a number of calls for an end to Ticketmaster’s market dominance and questions over the use of bots to buy tickets, before selling them on at inflated prices.
According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit was submitted on Friday in Los Angeles County District Court in California – where Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation is located.
The complaint alleged that Ticketmaster violated the California Cartwright Act and the California Unfair Competition Law during the pre-sale for verified fans.
The complaint further said that millions of fans waited almost eight hours and were still unable to buy tickets, and accuses the ticketing platform of “purposefully misleading ticket purchasers by allowing scalpers and bots access” to the pre-sale.
The suit also alleged that Ticketmaster controls the primary ticket market and says that its expansion into the secondary ticket market, along with the company’s agreements with stadiums “forces fans to buy more expensive tickets that Ticketmaster gets additional fees from every time the tickets are resold”.
Further complaints included providing codes when Ticketmaster could not satisfy ticket demand.
The complaint is seeking a civil fine of $2,500 per violation, alongside costs of attorneys’ fees and any additional relief.